GARGIONE FRANCESCO – Knight of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity.
Son of Nicola Gargione di Lembo Carolina, born in Perdifumo on October 18, 1938, NASA scientist and world-renowned expert in satellite and communication systems. Died on 3 October 2016.
At the age of 17, he moved to the United States in October 1955 to live with an uncle in the state of New Jersey.
In 1961 he graduated in electronic engineering from Drexel & nbsp; University of Philadelphia and in 1965 in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania.
He works in various companies operating in the field of missile, spacecraft and satellite construction, including Lockheed Martin with whom he worked until the end of his career, which took place in 1988, becoming Program Manager of the important ACTS project (Advanced Communication Technology Satellite) of NASA built to use the Ka frequency band.
Since 1998, he has been a consultant for various companies, important research institutes and universities, including the A.S.I. (Italian Space Agency), the I.I.C. (International Institute of Communications), the Alpha Spacecom of Hong Kong. He is a promoter with the A.S.I., with the I.I.C. and with the “Tor Vergata” University of Rome, the first world conference on the development prospects of the Ka-Band, now in its 14th edition.
He is the author of notable and numerous scientific publications.
Proclaimed author of the year 1995 of Lockheed Martin Aerospace and received in the Space Technology Hall of Fame in 1997, NASA Hawersaat Award from the Glem Research Center in Cleveland in 2000 and finally in 2002 the international communications award “Christopher Columbus” to Genoa.
he was part of The New Jersey italian and Italians Americans Heritage Commission, an association created to live and maintain relations with the mother country.
he was a member of the Amici association for & nbsp; Camella and Perdifumo, founded by compatriot Paragano Nazario.
On April 17, 2007, he received from the hands of the consul of Philadelphia, Hon. Stefano Mistretta, the honor of Knight of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, was conferred on him by President Giorgio Napolitano. In particular, he gained the honor for his merits in the scientific field, for his attachment to Italy and his country of origin, for his great economic availability for the spiritual, cultural and social elevation of the Italian community to the ‘Abroad and in the Italian territory,